


An Epilogue

by MorganEilish



Series: Epilogues [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Dealing With Loss, F/M, Ficlet, post ep115
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 16:57:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13194525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorganEilish/pseuds/MorganEilish
Summary: Vex and Keyleth deal with the loss of Vax in their own way.





	An Epilogue

Vex stopped wearing her hair in a braid after her brother left. They all still refused to think of it as him dying. They'd all died before at least once and it was always so much more violent and so much less permanent. But braiding her hair had always been Vax’s job.

It wasn't that she couldn't do it herself, though he was always better at it. It was that doing it herself reminded her how much he wasn't there. So for a while she just left her hair down, let it get tangled and blown about her face in the wind. It snagged on branches and collected leaves and dirt in the forest like Trinket’s fur.

She debated cutting it off. She'd look a little less like Vax if she did. But she liked pretending he was still there when she caught a glimpse of her reflection out of the corner of her eye.

Percy, to his credit, didn't say anything when he found plant matter in their bed. Though to be fair, they had slept in far worse conditions and he could put up with a little dirt. He did offer to braid it for her once early on in the woods after she missed a number of easy shots when it got in her face, but quickly apologized and backed down when she snapped that that was Vax’s job.

After a bit of time passed, he gifted her a hair stick he’d carved out of a dragon claw and sat her down on the floor of their library. She let him gently comb all the tangles out until her hair shone. He knotted it up on the crown of her head and pinned it in place, leaving a kiss on her cheek when he was done.

When she and Percy had children, she braided the hair of those that likes to keep it long, but her hair she kept knotted in a bun with her dragon tooth pin through it for the rest of her days.

\---

Keyleth asked Velora on a visit to Whitestone to teach her to braid her hair. It was still short but they managed. They wove tiny plaits into it that she decorated with druid crafted snowdrops to remind her of her fallen lover. The process made her feel closer to Vax.

As time passed, she let her hair grow out longer, more manageable now that she wasn't keeping it loose. She wove it up in complicated patterns that'd hold for days, sometimes weeks. Her red mane was a tapestry of tight tiny plaits and loose fishtails and ropes interwoven with leaves and flowers and feathers gifted to her from the raven that came to visit every day.

When she changed into her animal shapes, the patterns were often reflected in the colouring of her giant eagle feathers or Minxie’s stripes.

The children of her people were entranced by it and often brought her gifts of interesting plants they'd found and their first druid crafted flowers to weave in with it. She, in turn, would agree to braid their hair, sometimes letting a tear come to her eye at the thought that she would've loved to have her own children with Vax.

Over the centuries, her hair turned white, contrasting beautifully with the raven feathers woven into it. Her braids became less elaborate the older she got, although sometimes, for special occasions, she'd agree to let the village children plait it for her.

She chose not to marry but she was never alone. Her raven was always by her side and she helped raise the children of her village, teaching them how to turn into squirrels and kittens, which herbs healed what ailments, and how to conjure fog and lightning. She continued working with the other Ashari tribes to integrate with the ever modernizing outside world so they'd all be safe in the event of another Vecna, though she hoped her preparations would never be necessary.

Over the years she had dalliances; casual lovers and fleeting relationships. She knew Vax would want her to fall in love again but she didn’t feel a need to. No one would replace him. Vex might not have thought they’d made their relationship official but her people would’ve viewed the vows they’d made to each other in the heart of battle as a marriage - especially given that they’d repeated them afterwards in front of both their friends and a god. Besides, she was surrounded by more than enough love between her people and Vox Machina and its descendants.

**Author's Note:**

> Join me on 


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